This invention relates to fishing tackle and especially to fishing bobbers which include a bait guard for protecting the bait during casting.
Fishing bobbers with bait guards which have been proposed heretofore have had a floating bobber with a bait cup attached to the bobber in which the baited hook and sinker is placed so that the bait may be protected during the cast and also from impact when it hits the water. An example of such a bobber with a bait guard is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,798 of Thomas W. Bias, dated Nov. 3, 1959. This construction was relatively expensive to manufacture because the float portion had to be shaped from a solid piece of buoyant material such as wood and the threaded connection between the cup and float portion required special machining of the cup base. Also the screw on the float had to be fabricated and then fastened to the float. This connection could be shaken loose in operation and the threaded stud was subject to corrosion due to the action of the water which could prevent removal of the cup after the assembly had been resting in a tackle box for a period of time.
Fishermen also want tackle which is lightweight and weighs not over 2 or 3 ounces including the bait and sinker carried in the bait guard. Meeting these weight specifications was difficult with the construction of this patent. With a solid float it was also difficult to provide a bobber which would ride high in the water and would not become waterlogged through use. The flight characteristics of the assembly during the casting were not balanced because of the great weight of the bobber as compared with the weight of the cup. Also, the space within the cup was limited because the base must be of a thick construction to provide the necessary bushing with female threads for the threaded connection with the screw on the bobber. This thick base also adds to the weight of the unit which is not desirable. The space within the cup is needed for the line, sinker and bait.
In other bait guards including floats, the length has been too long for economical molding of plastic. Making them out of other material such as metal has increased the weight and cost beyond that accepted by the average fisherman. Also it has been difficult to store the bait guards because they took up so much room in a tackle box.